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Nigerian student draws five years for threatening federal agent’s family

A Nigerian student who was convicted of possessing a firearm that he fired from a Wichita apartment balcony was sentenced Friday to an additional five years in prison for threatening the family of a federal agent.

Osayuwame Bazuaye, 22, a former Butler Community College and Wichita State University student, was sentenced in a Wichita federal court by District Judge Eric Melgren, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom’s office said.

Bazuaye had resided in Wichita since 2008, entering the United States on a student visa. In January 2012, he was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The charge was the result of an incident at Bazuaye’s apartment near 21st and Woodlawn during which he fired a handgun from his balcony.

While in custody on those charges, in October 2012, Bazuaye allegedly threatened to sexually assault the wife and daughter of a deportation officer of Enforcement and Removal Operations, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was convicted May 1 by a federal jury here of making those threats.

Melgren ordered a 60-month sentence to run consecutively to the 24-month sentence he is serving in the firearms arms case.

“Our deportation officers, immigration agents and Homeland Security investigators tend to get overlooked for the difficult jobs they do,” Grissom said. “They have the very difficult task of dealing with a wide range of immigration issues that most people know little or nothing about. I will not tolerate threats against immigration officers or any other federal law enforcement officers or their families.”

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